A nutraceutical is a food or food product that provides health and medical benefits, including the prevention, treatment, and enhancement of the human condition and in many cases, for the benefit of mammals in general. Most vitamins are made from “food grade” chemicals but a nutraceutical is generally made from pharmaceutical grade chemicals of higher purity and with more predictable and consistent results. Thermogenesis is a term which literally means “the creation of heat”. Often, the term thermogenesis is used as a synonym for the term “energy”. Energy is transformed, converted, transported, and stored within the human body. Human energy comes into the body from what is normally consumed in the form of food and/or beverage. In many cases, beverages contain food-based substituents including vitamins, minerals, and additional supplements which are contained in many of the foods we consume. One unit of the measurement of heat energy involves the use of the terms “joules or kilocalories” and often kilocalories are counted on food and beverage labels in terms of “calories”. Specifically, a calorie is the amount of heat needed to heat one gram of water one degree Celsius. Calories are the unit of measurement describing how much energy is stored in a food or beverage. Water does not contain any calories, however it is normally found in the food and beverages consumed by humans, and as we consume these substances, energy is either transformed or stored. As energy is transported through the body's system, some energy leaves the body as fecal energy. Other energy is lost through the urinary tract. Energy not lost through waste by these two means is available for ensuring at least baseline (or basal) metabolic functions. One of the largest energy expenditures in the human body is thermic (heat) energy. Thermic energy differentiates an endoderm (mammal) from an ectoderm (reptile). The endoderm's basal metabolism is 8 to 10 times higher than that of most ectoderms. Therefore, mammals, and in particular humans, utilize tremendous amounts of the energy that is converted into thermic energy. Energy not used for thermic energy is then available as net energy for the body's cellular reproduction, growth (especially in children), work (muscle movement), and storage. The most common storage form of thermic energy is known as fat.
There are at least three forms of thermogenesis. The first form is work-induced from exercise. It is necessary for human muscles to create or utilize heat in order to work more effectively than when the muscles are cold.
A second form of thermogenesis is known as thermo-regulatory thermogenesis. This form provides for keeping the temperature of the human body regulated. The average body temperature is 98.7 degrees (F.). In addition, there are two types of thermo-regulatory thermogenesis: shivering and non-shivering. Shivering helps the body create heat. The skeletal muscles create the shivering. There's a small amount of muscle on each hair that can regulate heat gain and loss.
Non-shivering thermogenesis fits the third classification form, which is also known as diet-induced thermogenesis. Eating a meal or drinking other than water, will produce diet-induced thermogenesis. Normally, humans require more energy to digest food and/or beverages than are being consumed. There are regions within the body that can measure the most critical phenomena regarding the purpose of this disclosure; namely non-shivering or diet-induced thermogenesis.
Diet-induced thermogenesis is very important in animals that hibernate, such as bears, or small animals with a very large surface area in comparison with their body weight. Brown adipose or “brown fat” tissue is where a significant amount of the energy is stored in the body. “Brown fat” is also very prevalent in newborn babies as they exhibit tremendous amounts of non-shivering thermogenesis to regulate their body temperature. As humans age, this system depletes somewhat but remains an important part of survival.
Brown fat (adipose tissue) is located around blood vessels and major organs. When it is actively triggered, it causes the warming of the blood. Warm blood is circulated throughout the body to spread this energy in the form of heat for warming the entire body. The body's thermogenic system triggers the sympathetic nervous system. Under conditions of cold or when larger portions of calories are consumed, the hypothalamus gland registers this energy consumption and then triggers the sympathetic nervous system (also known as an automatic nervous system). The sympathetic nervous system controls many vital functions including heartrate, blood pressure (the circulatory system) and breathing (the respiratory system). Thus, the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system continuously requires and consumes energy.
In the area of the body where the nerves transmit biochemical signals via pathways, one of these neuro “transmitters” is known as norepinephrine. The triggering of the sympathetic nervous system causes the release of norepinephrine from a nerve terminal across the synapse which subsequently binds to receptors to propagate a nerve impulse.
This process increases (in some cases rapidly and dramatically) thermogenesis as well as other activity related functions generated by the nervous system. One way to visualize these somatic (body) functions, is by likening it to raising the body's thermostat. All humans have a basal metabolism rate which can be measured and indicates (in a rather precise manner), the energy required for maintaining vital functions. It is possible, by using formulations described in the present disclosure, to modulate or raise the metabolism rate above the basal rate.
Sweating or perspiration is often associated with one symptom of this increase in thermogenesis. Sweating occurs when more energy is used during thermogenesis of the sympathetic system than the energy used for work related activities. In the case of sweating, less energy is stored and less energy is converted to fat as opposed to when the body is operating at its basal metabolic rate. In this case, less brown fat is activated, thereby further reducing the metabolism of white fat cells, which are the primary fat storage depository in the human body. It is worth noting that although humans have a consistent number of fat cells, the size can greatly vary. The number of fat cells remains the same, but the size changes.
The brown fat cell is unique in its mitochondrion. Mitochondria are the “energy factories”—oxidative phosphorylation sites—for fueling the body. In the brown fat cell, unique mitochondria help create energy. The brown fat cell is also an energy consumer and it is heat energy that is being consumed. It has been postulated that much of human obesity is less associated with eating habits than it is with brown fat cell deterioration. If these cells deteriorate, energy use and release can be severely compromised. Brown fat activity studies are underway which indicate that post-obese people have a deficiency in their brown fat system.
Another symptom of thermogenesis is a loss of appetite. Exercise also increases the metabolic rate above the basal level giving the feeling of more energy due to the fact that more energy has been transported to the red and white blood cells responsible for (among numerous additional functions) oxygen transport and waste removal.
When an intentionally induced form of thermogenesis is created, by for example, the use of nutritional or nutraceutical supplementation with food or beverages, people feel they have more energy. Often they are generally able to perform more work related operations (both physical and mental), which also leads to an increased utilization of fat as the stored calories are converted into released calories. When calories released from the body exceed those consumed, body weight is reduced.
In the past, many of the types of formulations that were designed to provide thermogenesis leading to increased and improved mental stimulation and stamina have also provided deleterious side effects or “symptoms”. The beverages of this disclosure have been carefully and precisely formulated to reduce and in some cases completely eliminate these deleterious, unwanted side effects or symptoms.